Violence Policy Center: Tennessee 4th in nation for rate of women killed by men

by Adrian Mojica, WZTV

The newest report by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) ranks Tennessee fourth in the nation for the rate of women murdered by men. (MGN)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) - The newest report by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) ranks Tennessee fourth in the nation for the rate of women murdered by men.

Using FBI homicide report data, the non-profit organization found in 2015 there were 71 women killed by men in the state. That equated to a rate of 2.10 women killed for every 100,000 women in the state.

Only Alaska, Nevada and Louisiana had higher rates per 100,000 women. Nationally, the rate of women killed by men was 1.12 per 100,000.

The report found the average age of women killed by men in Tennessee was 40. Seventy-one percent of the victims were shot with guns. For victims in which the offender could be identified, 96 percent were found to have been killed by someone they knew. Seventy-two percent of those women were married, in a relationship, or in a previous marriage with their killers.

For 42 of the 71 women killed in the state, investigators were able to identify the circumstances surrounding their murder. Forty of the 42 murders were not related to the commission of any other type of crime. Of those 42, 24 of them involved arguments between the woman and her killer.

Nationally, the report found in 2015 that black females were killed at double the rate of white females. The rate for black females was 2.43 per 100,000 versus .96 per 100,000 for white females.